Smallville: "Plastique" Review

Clark's first day at the Daily Planet.

After tying up loose ends from last season's finale, we finally get to delve into the different look and feel for Smallville's 8th season. The Daily Planet's presence, which increased exponentially every season, now appears to be the primary hub for Clark Kent. We'll definitely be seeing the Kent farmstead, but there already seems to be a shift of focus to Metropolis from Smallville. There's also a focus on the Lois and Clark relationship that will certainly be a major component and we're finally introduced to Davis Bloome (Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice – Sam Witwer) who genuinely surprised me in his first appearance on the show. Unfortunately, this week's tale about a homeless girl with superpowers drags the rest of the episode down with a by-the-numbers freak of the week type story.

After all these years, it's strange seeing Tom Welling's Clark Kent working at the Daily Planet. It's not that he doesn't belong there. I've always been a firm believer that Welling is great casting to eventually fill the role of Superman, but the series has been so disjointed up until this point that it doesn't feel like he is at that point in his life quite yet. There were episodes last season were he was still acting like a whiny little schoolboy. Regardless, I have to say that I was really impressed with his first day at the Planet. Last week we were introduced to a Lois who looks more adult and closer to her comic book counter part, this week, Clark's wardrobe is altered to reflect his new position at the Planet. It's a welcome change and lends itself well to the evolution of the series. You can definitely tell there are new people running the show and they aren't afraid to shake things up.

Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Erica Durance as Lois Lane

On Battlestar Galactica Sam Witwer was barely a blip on my radar. He was present but never given an opportunity to perform as a lead character. Over the last couple of weeks, I've had an opportunity to play The Force Unleashed and was pleasantly surprised by his voice work in that and it got me pretty excited for his first episode on Smallville. He doesn't disappoint as the good-hearted and charismatic paramedic – Davis Bloome. His character is a welcome addition and he's already developed a good chemistry with the rest of the cast.

I'll personally admit that I wasn't convinced by the idea of having someone play a "pre-monster" version of Doomsday and was scared that it would destroy the character, but after one episode I'm genuinely intrigued. A lot of that credit belongs to Witwer. I'll even admit that I'm enjoying the romantic element between him and Chloe. Also, the brow ridges on Witwer at the end as he obviously goes through some sort of transformation process appear to be a pretty close likeness with Doomsday.

The real disappointment here is the introduction of Bette (DC Comic's Plastique). Her story is serviceable and allows Bloome to be introduced into the story and gives Chloe motivation to restart the Isis Foundation, but it ends up feeling like any other freak of the week character. The big twist that it wasn't Tommy who had the powers was very transparent and the actress playing Bette laid the "homeless girl with an attitude" cliche on a little too thick. Although, one great moment to come out of this storyline is the final scene between her and Tess that hints at the possible formation of some sort of super villain team – an Injustice League perhaps?

This new season of Smallville, like every season, shows a lot of promise and two episodes in, I'm genuinely excited to see what will happen next. I don't even really miss Lex Luthor right now and to be honest, they did everything they really could do with that character after seven seasons. This is a good setup for what could be something different and exciting.